Δελτίο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών ( Bulletin of the Center for Asia Minor Studies ) (review)

Abstract

140 Reviews paragraph about the dilósies who acted on Party orders was omitted. In E. K. (6: 248) the whole text is given including further minor details also omitted in the published version. This means that the source here is not the Rizospástis but the Central Committee archives. I may mention that Ilioú in Avyi (5 January 1980) only had a Russian translation at his disposal. Apart from these shortcomings, the new volume contains a lot of interesting new material. For special mention I would single out the following items: the decision about the Athens Party Organization (no. 786), the letter to the political commissars (no. 806), the declaration about the Macedonian question (no. 806), the December 1947 announcement about the Provisional Government (pp. 447451 ) and the letter from Zahariádis (p. 444). There are also several documents relating to peace offers and proposals from the Provisional Government, and in view of present day politics, an interesting reminder: a message to HarÃ-laos Florákis and Diamantis congratulating them on the liberation of Karpénisi . . . (no. 790). While there are no really sensational items here, it is still a great service to historians to have made these documents easily available. I would warn the reader, however, that old copies of Saránda hrónia tu KKE (1958) should not be thrown in the dustbin when the Episima kimena series is complete. That book is also part of KKE history, just as is the present one. Ole L. Smith University of Copenhagen Paschalis M. Kitromilides (editor), Δελτίο ΚÎ-ντϕου Μικϕασιατικών Σπουδών (Bulletin of the Center for Asia Minor Studies), Vol. V. Athens. 1984-85. Pp. 608. Drs. 2000. The Center for Asia Minor Studies, the oldest research center in Greece, is devoted to the preservation of the hellenic heritage in Asia Minor. It was founded in 1930 by Melpo Logotheti-Merlier and her husband Octave Merlier (a well-known French philhellene and neohellenist) who together not only conceived of such an institute but also collected the books, manuscripts, photographs (they number Reviews 141 4832), records, oral reports (a unique collection of 144, 883 pages of oral history classified in geographic units) and other material necessary to a serious research center. The Center, now housed in a handsome, neoclassic building in Plaka (Kydathenaion 11 — 13), includes a large library, up-to-date archival rooms, seminar rooms, and a large hall for lectures and conferences. Its able director since 1980, Paschalis Kitromilides, also edits its publications. The publications of the Center testify to the effectiveness and productivity of the center. Begun in 1948, they include studies on musicology, ethnicity, and the language and literature of Asia Minor. In 1977 the Center started publishing its Bulletin, a series of large volumes covering a wide variety (cultural, historical, economic) of issues concerning hellenism in Asia Minor. Four volumes are already in circulation. Volume V of the Bulletin (1984-1985), the subject of this review, includes articles covering the Hellenistic, Byzantine, and modern periods in Asia Minor written by Greek scholars who have made use of unpublished archival material to discuss crucial subjects for the area: historical demography, the formation of national consciousness, and the institutions of collective life of the Greek communities in Asia Minor. I here offer a brief review of these articles. Pinelopi Stathis discusses two 18th century patriarchal letters written in Karamanli (i.e. Turkish written in the Greek alphabet) and addressed to the Orthodox population of the interior of Anatolia, which spoke only Turkish. In another article, Anastasia PapadiaLaIa investigates the problems confronting the city of Smyrna following the famous Russian naval expedition led by the Orlov brothers during the Russo-Turkish war of 1768-1774 and the Ottoman naval defeat off the coast of Chesme in July 1770. Papadia-Lala makes use of unpublished documents of the Venetian Consulate in Smyrna. These two articles are a welcome addition to the historiography of the period and demonstrate the tremendous development of the social and cultural life of the Greeks in Asia Minor during the 18th century. Walter Puchner maintains that the "delayed enlightenment" of 19th century Anatolia is best exemplified in the play of Michail Moussaios, The Marriage of Malonis Antifantis (1823). Puchner considers...